New Zealand 3 - Queenstown to Picton

Queenstown to Haast

Tuesday 29^th May 2012

It's cold and it's rainy, but the great thing about a road trip is that you are always setting off somewhere else and the weather is bound to change, or even improve, as it does for us as we start climbing up to the high passes and look back on Lake Wakapitu and aim for Lake Wanaka.

This is probably one of the most stupendous of our trips here in the South Island as we stop to take in windswept, sunny and very cold snow views, but the ice has cleared and it is safe to drive. The colours of autumn are upon us and it is all gold, red and green and the Remarkable Mountains fade as we head out of the pass towards Cromwell.

Lake Dunstan sparkles in the sun and then we follow the Clutha River all the way to the pretty lake side town of Wanaka, constantly wondering at the space and emptiness of this country.

Lake Hawea appeared on our right and it was backed by snowy mountains that were perfectly reflected in it's calm waters along it's whole length – a memory to be cherished.

On through Mount Aspiring National Park on the Haast Pass Highway. When we say highway we mean a fairly narrow two lane road, that has interesting adverse camber in places but virtually no other traffic, even the non-Jucy campers wave at us now.

We come out on the flat coastal plain around the small town of Haast, seemingly deserted and surrounded by distant mountains. Two hotels, two camp sites and one shop called Grumpy Cow Supermarket, and the proprietor exactly fitted the title. We realised too late that you need to bring your own food supply for this part of the journey if you want to cook for yourself. 

Booked into the Top 10 campsite where everything was brand new with very friendly staff, one of whom, Brian, discovered that we had a flat tyre and helped us to put on the spare. We found out later that he and his mate had been contracted to rebuild the site and were just about finished.

We tried the “Famous Whitebait Patties” at the Heritage Hotel – very disappointing. Basically, its small omelettes made with translucent, minuscule fish with no flavour whatsoever. John made a note to himself – avoid in future.

Detail of the Day: Next morning we duly went to local garage where we found a wizard mechanic called Eamon – lots of family in Northern Ireland – who, amid jokes and stories, fixed the damaged tyre and showed us the possum bone he had picked out of it. His advice was “Run over the live ones, they're a pest, but don't run over dead ones as the bones become dry and sharp very quickly and will wreck your tyres”.

Haast to Franz Joseph (via Fox Glacier)

Wednesday 30^th May 2012

After the garage adventure we set off north at noon. Now we are approaching the Tasman Sea and drive through lush, dense forests filled with giant tree ferns, through winding misty hill roads, glimpsing the sea all the while. A completely different flora and fauna from the previous day.

The track to the Fox Glacier from the car park can be a treacherous walk through the wide valley floor as the glacier moves and the river and rain alter the paths to the mouth on a daily basis. A decision on whether it is safe for the public to enter and marking of a safe route is made on a daily basis by the Park Rangers.

We were lucky, as Caspar the Park Ranger on duty said it had been shut for a couple of days previously as it had become too unstable. He goes up the valley each morning to check for rock falls, paths washed out, and so on and makes it safe for walkers and sets the flags for you to follow that day's path. He is a geologist from Bruton in Somerset and said it was the best job he had ever had.

It was a fantastic walk, although misty and cold, and very exciting to see a real life glacier!

Chilly and tired, the small town of Franz Joseph offered us the perfect antidote – a couple of hours in hot glacier pools. They offered the usual three choices of hot, hotter and very hot – gorgeous! This was followed by a gourmet tea of fish fingers, potatoes and peas (with tomato sauce) in the van whilst watching a rental video of 'The A Team', with a red wine accompaniment. That definitely qualified as a day that went from the sublime to the ridiculous and was absolutely FANTASTIC!

Franz Joseph to Hokitika

Thursday 31^st May 2012

In contrast to yesterday it is a dazzlingly fine morning and we take the 3 kilometre walk across the galacial valley in the early sun past rainbow waterfalls to the stunning vista of the Franz Joseph Glacier in crisp mountain air. It is wonderful. Apart from a family and a pair of hikers we have the whole valley to ourselves, both there and back.

 

When we got back to the car park we became confused as there had been an infestation of Jucy Campers and it took a little time to work out which one of these empty vehicles was ours.

A small, steep and winding road off the highway took us to our next stop; the small beach village of Okarito. Sitting on the beach in the sun eating fruit cake and enjoying the view out to sea was all brilliant and then we turned round to walk back to the van and remembered why we had been recommended to visit this place. 


 We were looking at Mount Cook from the other side from where we had been the other day. The mountains stood tall and majestic in the distance. Then Celia got bitten by a sand fly and that was our signal to move on.

Coming out of the hills we arrived at the flat coastal town of Hokitika at the mouth of a river. We were very tired but had to go shopping and there we ran into our Danish friends from Twizel, Hendrik and Jorgen, who were staying at the same camp site as us. We shared wine and dinner in the camp kitchen as the temperature plummeted and they showed us their film of bungee jumping – scary!

Hokitika to Hanmer Springs

Friday 1^st June 2012

A very frosty morning and we know we have to push on as we have a long way to go. We hug the coast north all the way to Greymouth, an old industrial port and turn inland to Reefton (apparently the first place on the South Island to have electric light) where we buy most excellent pies at the bakery.

Detail of the Day: have we mentioned how good the baking is in this country? They really know what they are doing and everywhere we go the cakes, pies and pastries are all marvellous. A boon to the weary traveller and a living, breathing baking tradition that we applaud with our constant purchases. Most of the goods we know the names of but others are new, like Neemish Pie, a sort of delicious chocolate and lemon cake made with condensed milk.

We turn inland and we're going over the central spine of the country now to get back to the east coast and decide to stop en route at Hanmer Springs for the night.

It is a pretty alpine town with natural hot springs, that we went and wallowed in on arrival. As well as the glacier pools they also have the natural hot sulphur springs that are even hotter and very, very smelly, but apparently good for the joints and your skin. There are warning everywhere not to put your head under the water though, as it is full of weird microbes and stuff.

There are also lots shops selling this and tat which we browse after our bathe. Back at the camp we round the day off with Celia's chicken curry, a DVD, and a drop of wine, and sleepy soundly through the chilly night in our toasty Jucy camper.

Hanmer Springs

Saturday 2^nd June 2012

We awoke to a dawn chorus that couldn't be beat, glad that we're booked in here for two nights as it is a long weekend – the Queen's Birthday is a national holiday here! Very cold nights but lovely warm summery days to stroll around this tourist town.

Chatting with a fellow camper from Christchurch in the kitchen, he told us that he and his wife had been living with their daughter and her family since the earthquake and had come up to Hanmer to give themselves, and her, a break. 

His story was typical of the sort of things they have to cope with. On the day of the quake, his house shook to pieces around his wife and two of his best friends from school were killed. They are still waiting to hear from the insurance company if they can rebuild, and even if they can, his wife doesn't want to live there any more. He has also been desperately ill with cancer through all this, although now in remission.

The tale of these events was told to us without a trace of self pity or any seeking of sympathy – they just get on with it. He applauded our trip out of normal life and his advice to anyone was don't delay doing what you want to do because you don't know what the future holds. Suitably buoyed up and humbled by this conversation we used the rest of our time in planning the next leg of our trip after NZ, like hotels in Fiji, Los Angeles, San Francisco and flights to Whitehorse in Canada.

Hanmer Springs to Picton

Sunday 3^rd June 2012

When we set off east this morning our intention had been to stop in Kaikoura for the night, but we made good time and when we got to the coast it was only just lunchtime. So, after at look at the drab little town, we decided to get straight on to Picton and have two nights there before catching the ferry to the North Island.

North of town there was a large bay with a surfing competition going on and it was great viewing, sitting in the sun on the beach with dozens of surfers, of all ages and experience, working hard out in the sea. It was very warm and we were surprised to see several small groups of watchers had fires going. 
However, about ½ hour later, in a matter of about 30 seconds, the weather suddenly changed. A strong wind started to blow, the temperature fell by several degrees, the sun disappeared and it started raining hard. We had never experienced such a dramatic and fast change in the weather.

What a fabulous journey up this rocky and dramatic coast, stopping to watch seal colonies, with the weather changing each time we round a corner or emerge from a tunnel.

Then to Blenheim and enjoyed a little side trip to visit the Cloudy Bay Winery and stock up. Gently rolling hills and valleys here with many vineyards to choose from but we only had time to visit this one.

Getting to Picton at dusk we found a camp site and settled in for a warmer night by the sea with a gentle breeze blowing. 

Picton

Monday 3^rd June 2012

Picton is a ferryport and it is like a semi industrial seaside town in winter. Down by the sea it all visitor centre and gentrified touristy attractions, whilst up in the town it is definitely a working port with half empty pubs, fast food joints, and even edgy youth – who turn out to be very polite as this is New Zealand after all.

The owners of the camp are a British man and his Javanese wife and their two beautiful little girls. Turned out the lady was from Malang, so she and Celia had a long chat about Indonesia and why she prefers New Zealand on the whole as opposed to Britain because the weather in Picton is generally warmer! 

 However, she did say that it was such a long way from both their families and they miss having that family support network. That's the thing about New Zealand, you are a long way from everyone and everything.

Decided to watch a bit of TV in the camp kitchen and what was on but Lord Of The Rings, so we had to watch it so that we could periodically shout out, “been there!”, and “seen that!”. Pathetic but fun!